Performance of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in acid soil under integrated nutrient management with biochar as a component

Majority of the soils in the North Eastern Hill (NEH) region of India are acid in reaction causing low crop yields. The region produces huge quantity of crop residue/weed biomass which can be converted into biochar for managing soil acidity. To evaluate the performance of tomato (cv. Megha tomato-2) in acid soil of Meghalaya under integrated nutrient management having biochar as a component, an experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2017-18 at Research Farm of School of Natural Resource Management, CPGSAS, Umiam, Meghalaya and the following sixteen treatments were tested under RBD with three replications: T1 - Control, T2 - B @ 2 t/ha, T3 - B @ 3 t/ha, T4 - B @ 4 t/ha, T5 - 75% RDF + B @ 2 t/ha, T6 - 75% RDF + B @ 3 t/ha, T7 - 75% RDF + B @ 4 t/ha, T8 - 75% RDF + B @ 2 t/ha + VC @ 2.5 t/ha, T9 - 75% RDF + B @ 3 t/ha + VC @ 2.5 t/ha, T10 -75% RDF + B @ 4 t/ha + VC @ 2.5 t/ha, T11 - 100% RDF + B @ 2 t/ha, T12 - 100% RDF + B @ 3 t/ha, T13 - 100% RDF + B @ 4 t/ha, T14 - 100% RDF + B @ 2 t/ha + VC @ 2.5 t/ha, T15 - 100% RDF + B @ 3 t/ha + VC @ 2.5 t/ha, T16 - 100% RDF + B @ 4 t/ha+ VC @ 2.5 t/ha. The experimental results revealed that the highest plant height (cm) and number of fruits/plant was recorded in the treatment T16 - 100% RDF + B @ 4 t/ha + VC @ 2.5 t/ha with 150 and 127 percent increase over control, respectively.